The global city: A model for innovation

Christian Buske squirmed as he recalled the beginnings of his manufacturing company.

“I don’t want to speak about the garage,” he said, erupting in laughter as he sat in his company’s squat, red-and-white headquarters building in Steinhagen, about 60 miles southwest of Hannover. “It was a bit like that — a small workshop.”

What started as three techies tinkering in a small space in 1995 is now Plasmatreat GmbH, a $34 million-a-year machine maker that employs nearly 150 workers on three continents and counts GM, Ford, Microsoft and Champagne maker Moet & Chandon among its clients.